72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bru.88 



mound, some .' feet distant, l.-iy tin- upper layer of skeletons; lint with thrc 

 exceptions these skeletons had been disarticulated and more or less scan 

 about. Over tlie liones had been laid a covering of loess. scra|>ed up and carried 

 to the wound for the pur|>osc. Through tills covering were scattered small 

 pieces of shells of a kind very different from the bivalves of the streams in this 

 vicinity at the present day." 



GILDER, Kccttrds of the Past, February, 11K)7. Skull no. r. " lay in what I took 

 to be n baked clay matrix. Before I reached the sknll I had worked through 



earth similar to other coverings of remains in the neighltorh 1 and thrmiirli 



several inches of what appeared to be earth and ashes, beneath which was the 

 stratum which looked as if it had IMHMI burned. I had not at that time learned 

 that an intrusive burial had taken place, and naturally concluded that the earth 

 had been baked over the skull in order to prevent the leaching of the bones by 

 rains." 



WARD in HARBOUR and WARD, Nebraska Geological fturvcy. n, part .">. I'.KMj. 

 Page 321. " The limb bones are massive and large, indicating a stature of 6 

 feet, and uncommonly rough, indicating a people who were very mus'-ular. 

 particularly in the lower extremities'. The strikingly large protuberances sup- 

 port this view. The crania are low In-owed, with heavy, protruding sujtercil- 

 iary ridges, and receding foreheads, which lack frontal eminences. In life 

 these people had flat heads, protruding muzzles, large chins, and heavy brows, 

 shading eyes deep set and close together. The low-browed crania are not the 

 result of head-binding, nor are they those of idiots, nor are they malformed. 

 Instead they are normal and represent the cranial development of the time. 

 Though showing many i>oints of similarity as well as differences, on the whole 

 they seem inferior to the mound builder, and we may fur the present at 

 least consider the Nebraska man as a very early or degenerate mound builder. 

 In corrolxn-ation are the crude flint implements or chips, whichever they are, 

 associated with the bones, and the mode of burial in mounds." 



Page :*2o. " The writers have frequently seen examples equally ancient, but 

 these are the first authentically located." 



Page .'527. " The Inmes of the lower layer seem synchronous with the loess for- 

 mation and antedate the hill itself, while those of the upper layer are younger 

 than the loess and subsequent to the hill." 



WARD. Putnam's Magazine. January. 1907. "The skeletons collected by Mr. 

 Ilobert F. Gilder all present such striking characteristics that even at first 

 glance one is compelled to recognize their peculiar type. The individual bones 

 are well preserved, but heavy, brittle, and without the sj>ongy character of such 

 as have been exposed to the leaching of water in the soil. 



"All the long bones of the skeleton are massive, of more than average length, 

 and distinguished by the very unusual prominence of the rough areas for muscle 

 attachment and also of the protuberances which subserve the same function. 

 In these particulars the leg bones are the most striking. Their development 

 indicates clearly the platycnemic condition usually regarded as characteristic 

 of primitive people. The femur has a strong curve forward, which is not lack- 

 ing in modern skeletons but has been noted by many as peculiarly characteristic 

 of ancient femora. 



"Judging from the location of the glenoid cavity and the length of the lower 

 jaw, the latter probably did not -project very conspicuously. This lower jaw 

 is one of the most remarkable parts of the skeleton. It is relatively short, very 

 massive, and double the thickness of a modern mandible." 



The skulls show that "the Inuie is on the whole massive beyond the usual 

 limits in modern skulls." 



"The sutures are usually distinct, sometimes simple, sometimes complicated. 



